“A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 NASB)
You may have been through something in the past, of which the memory still last. But yet you press on. You may be going through something right now, and that something is challenging, confusing, or compounded by the curves that we come to as we tarry through this life. Yet, thank God, you still persist in keeping your faith. Life in general can be described for all of us as a journey that we are going through. And if the experiences that we shall go through in life could be viewed as one of the biggest boxes of crayons that a well-off child brought to school, our “going through” could be categorized as a conglomeration of mixed, and multiple colors; colors that make one bright, colors that lighten life, colors that are dark and gloomy, colors that can be used to illustrate sunshine and other colors that can be used to represent the hard rains of life. I believe it’s to say that all of us are going through, right now. Thank God you still persist in keeping your faith.
Friday, I talked with a member who has been through a lot. Her arduous work and academic accomplishments, all to enter a prestigious career were interrupted by an accident that left her unable to practice what she had worked so hard to achieve. But being a Christian, she kept going through. She has lost loved ones, lost the comfort of her own home, but she is thankful for the room that she has at an assisted living residence, and when asked how she is doing, she responded, “I’m going through.” Chronological and physiological changes and the inability to navigate enough mobility go where she would like, all that has not hindered her from ministering to others. She calls those who should be calling her. She checks on people that should be checking on her regularly. When asked how she did all she did, she confesses that it was through the grace of God who strengthens her and still keeps her here for a purpose, as she is going through. She is an inspiration to those who complain about things that pale in comparison to her circumstances and makes them ready to go through. She repeated the same words towards the end of our conversation, but this time she included other persons, “We are just going through.” Oh how right she is with that statement. Like a rollercoaster ride, life is sometimes up and sometimes down, sometimes it produces a peaked degree of happiness and sometimes there are floods of fears that need to be calmed by a sensing of security. Our security, as we are in the “going through” is found in the Lord. Sometimes aggravation is projected from our faces, and sometimes a joyful anticipation on the rollercoaster of life is experiences as we are going through.
I know you have to get to church this morning, but let me leave you with some good news to start your day. This good new is in the form of words written by Charles A. Miles in 1908. Feel assurance as you read them! Be motivated even if you opt to sing them. They will help you as you are going through. Be blessed!
It may be in the valley, where countless dangers hide;
It may be in the sunshine that I, in peace, abide;
But this one thing I know—if it be dark or fair,
If Jesus is with me, I’ll go anywhere!
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!
’Tis heaven to me, where’er I may be, if He is there!
I count it a privilege here, His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!
But if it be my portion to bear my cross at home,
While others bear their burdens beyond the billow’s foam,
I’ll prove my faith in Him—confess His judgments fair,
If Jesus stays with me, I’ll stay anywhere!
It is not mine to question the judgment of my Lord,
It is but mine to follow the leadings of His Word;
But if to go or stay, or whether here or there,
I’ll be, with my Savior, content anywhere!
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King